Binte Aziza MH

Binte Aziza MH

It is hard to believe that almost forty years ago, RDM Maar Hala began her breeding career and through her progeny, directly impacted the direction and focus of the Rancho Bulakenyo breeding program. Maar Hala’s great-granddaughter, Binte Aziza MH, over her lifetime, would exert a similar impact, ushering a new generation of horses at Rancho Bulakenyo. An elegant and exquisite grey mare, Binte Aziza MH was sired by Richter MH, a son of El Halimaar (*Ansata Ibn Halima x RDM Maar Hala) and out of the *Farazdac daughter, Fasarra (*Farazdac x *Masarra). As the “earthquake” in Richter’s name implies, a more auspicious beginning could not have been made to herald the arrival of a mare who, through her progeny and especially, her sons, would significantly influence an already established and proven breeding program, whose world-wide fame rested upon the almost magical cross of the much-loved Babson Egyptian mare, Maar-Ree, with *Ansata Ibn Halima. Binte Aziza’s sire, Richter MH, a United States and Canada Top Ten Futurity Colt, previously owned by Count Federico Zichy-Thyssen of Haras El Atalaya in Argentina and now owned by Sheikh Khaled Ahmed Bagedo of Al Khaled Farm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, remains a very special horse for Jody Cruz, as he is the first horse that Jody bred, shortly after taking the breeding program over from his father, Dr. Felino Cruz. 

On the maternal side of her pedigree, Binte Aziza MH, affectionately called “JoJo”, was out of a beautiful Abenhetep (*Ibn Hafiza x Omnia) daughter named BintAzizaPrincess, whom Jody had unexpectedly found while visiting Azali Arabians, owned by Bill and Georgene Raisner in Temecula, California.

BintAzizaPrincess (Abenhetep x Aziza Princess)

Jody still remembers the moment when he first saw BintAzizaPrincess, "I was visiting an Egyptian breeder friend in Temecula.  She offered to take me to another Egyptian breeder, a small family-owned and run program based on their first SE mare, Aziza Princess." Jody remembers spotting a most spectacular grey filly, "I literally looked across the row of corrals and saw a very special grey filly and asked, who is THAT?"  In that fraction of a moment, time seemed to come to a stop, as he focused all of his attention on an outrageous little filly, still at her dam's side. Jody immediately recognized that this filly may be just the horse he had been looking for, that is, a transitional horse who had the genetic potential to build upon the foundation already established at Rancho Bulakenyo, while transitioning the program  forward, to the next chapter. Despite his best efforts to convince the Raisners to sell her, they did not want to sell and Jody, unfazed by their response, was determined that one day, he would own “Sara”, her barn name inspired by Sara “Sally” Stokke, who along with her husband owned Abenhetep. Jody never wavered in his desire to purchase the filly and a few years later, was able to lease and ultimately purchase, BintAzizaPrincess and incorporate her in his program. Binte Aziza MH, her second foal and a very pretty grey filly, was born at the end of April 1998, captivating her breeder with an abundance of charm, just like her mother did, when Jody saw her for the first time. What is really interesting about the pedigree for Binte Aziza MH, is the presence of not only TheEgyptianPrince but also, RDM Maar Hala, who was known as a producer of influential stallions, having produced horses who went on to be equally significant for Rancho Bulakenyo and for other breeders too, like El Halimaar, Halim El Mansour, ET Crown Prince, Prince Ibn Shaikh, Maar Ibn Ali, Maar Ibn Amaal and Haliluyah MH. I don’t know of many horses who combine genetically a dam of stallions with a broodmare sire, to the degree that TheEgyptianPrince and RDM Maar Hala have been in the breed and for me, it better explains the consistency for which Binte Aziza MH has produced breeding horse quality within the Rancho Bulakenyo program.

In looking at Binte Aziza MH, while separated by many, many years from Ibn Rabdan, one does witness his influence, that is, close-coupled horses, framed by strong and smooth toplines and harmonious bodies influenced by circular lines. Ibn Rabdan remains one of the more important stallions in Egypt of his day, an important influence on present-day horses. Binte Aziza MH carries at least twenty-eight lines to Ibn Rabdan, eleven of the crosses through her sire, Richter MH and seventeen lines through her dam, BintAzizaPrincess, the mare that captivated Jody Cruz, back in 1991, when he visited Azali Arabians. 

Kaliph MH

Fast-forward ten years, when the first of her amazing sons started to arrive. Binte Aziza MH, a Kuhaylan strain mare, crossed beautifully with the Kuhaylan strain Imperial Al Kamar, producing a trio of uniquely pure-in-the-strain Kuhaylan stallions: Kaliph MH, now owned by Jaleen Hacklander of Hadaya Arabian Stud and proving to be a pivotal sire within her breeding program, 

Bashar Al Kamar MH

Bashar Al Kamar MH who has matured into a vital breeding stallion and replacement for his sire, Imperial Al Kamar and Nour Al Kamar MH,

Nour Al Kamar MH

who sired a beautiful filly named Amira Kahila MH (a double BintAzizaPrincess-bred mare, as she is out of Bint Romanaa MH) purchased by Jamie Zissis for her Rosehaven Ranch LLP. In a country which is dominated by Dahman and Saqlawi strain stallions, choosing to breed within the Kuhaylan strain is unique and not a choice that is commonly practiced by other straight Egyptian breeders. Jody Cruz made a bold choice in breeding within the Kuhaylan strain of horses, to produce individuals who like their sire and dam, would also continue to influence not only within the confines of the Rancho Bulakenyo program, but all over the world. 

Princess Aziza MH

When Binte Aziza MH was bred to *Lebinon Al Shaqab she produced three full sisters: Princess Aziza MH, who was sold to Al Shaqab in Qatar, Amaya Princess RAF and Johara Princess RAF, both of whom are owned by Jamie Zissis of Rosehaven Ranch LLP, to incorporate in her program, which focuses on the bloodline of the mare, 9 Tamria.  Their full brother, Aziz Ibn Lebinon MH, was retained by Rancho Bulakenyo, for use as a future breeding stallion.  Binte Aziza MH was also bred to *Hadban Al Shaqab producing the colt, Aziz Ibn Hadban MH, who is also retained by Ranch Bulakenyo as a future breeding prospect.  How important is Binte Aziza MH to Rancho Bulakenyo? Of the seven stallions that up until recently, filled the breeding stallion roster at Rancho Bulakenyo, six of those horses trace back to BintAzizaPrincess through her daughter, Binte Aziza MH. The seventh stallion was the late Imperial Al Kamar, who exerted an historic impact, all over the world. Of the mares that make up the breeding herd at Rancho Bulakenyo, a quarter of the mares carry the blood of BintAzizaPrincess and the ones that don’t, will be bred to one of Binte Aziza’s sons. Because the consistency of her sons are so outrageously excellent, one can easily forget that Binte Aziza also produced a daughter in 2013 named Bint Binte Aziza MH, a full sister to Kaliph, Bashar and Nour, as she was also sired by Imperial Al Kamar. It will be exciting to watch from the sidelines as she begins her breeding career. 

As stated at the beginning of this article, RDM Maar Hala defined her influential impact through the legacy that her sons created, as breeding stallions not only within the Rancho Bulakenyo program but all over the world. It is because of the Maar Hala sons that the breeding program of Rancho Bulakenyo is globally recognized for strong female lines which become influential through the siring strength of sons and Binte Aziza MH was no exception, she was proof of it. The memory of this prolific mare remains vibrant and relevant with the birth of every foal sired by Bashar, Kaliph and Nour and insures the survival of a most celebrated and revered family of horses.

Aziza Princess

Aziza Princess (TheEgyptianPrince x Aziza Samira)

Aziza Princess was bred by Bentwood Farm in Texas and purchased as a yearling by Bill and Georgene Raisner. The sire of Aziza Princess is the legendary TheEgyptianPrince, a 1967 stallion bred by Douglas Marshall of Gleannloch Farm, who also imported *Morafic, Prince’s sire. TheEgyptianPrince was recognized as an extraordinary sire of broodmares, who matured into dams of distinction, founding vibrant families who helped to keep TheEgyptianPrince relevant, in today’s breeding population. It’s that dominating genetic influence and the possibilities that come from working with it, which makes the blood of this specific horse still so exciting and fresh. The EgyptianPrince was also one of those rare horses whose genetic influence is concentrated in the blood of only a few individuals. Both his sire and dam were sired by Nazeer; while Mabrouka (the dam of *Morafic) and Mouna (the dam of *Bint Mona) were full sisters; as both mares were sired by Sid Abouhom and out of Moniet el Nefous.  Therefore, *Morafic & *Bint Mona were full-brother and full-sister in blood. In the 4th generation of TheEgyptianPrince's pedigree, the generation of the great-grandparents, the pedigree is populated by eight horses, with each horse contributing 12.5% of their influence. In TheEgyptianPrince's pedigree, one doesn’t find eight horses; we find four horses that appear twice, the influence of each horse doubled from 12.5% to 25%. 

 

On the maternal side of Aziza Princess’ pedigree appears the mare, Aziza Samira, who was bred by Trucilla Enz. 

 

*Bint Shahbaa I (Gassir x Shahbaa)

Aziza Samira’s dam was the 1960 Shahbaa daughter, *Bint Shahbaa I, sired by Gassir, a mare who was initially purchased by Ahmed Hamza for his Hamdan Stables.  In 1969, she was purchased and exported to America by Trucilla. When the socialist revolution led by Gamel Abdel Nasser occurred in 1952 and King Fouad’s Inshass Stud became part of the newly-named Egyptian Agricultural Organization (EAO) at El Zahraa, General Pettko Von Szandtner personally selected the 1944 bay mare Shadia, who was said to possess a distinctive desert elegance about her, the 1951 mare Shahbaa, a Hamdan daughter out of Shahd (El Moez x Shams), along with her daughter Shaheera by Ghazi, who Judith Forbis had called one of the “loveliest Inshass mares”. 
 

For many people who have studied the EAO breeding program deeply and are intimately familiar with the EAO horses, it is Shahd, who is regarded as the matriarch of this family, for she possessed an inner beauty and dignity that was indescribable. Therefore, to connect the lines with the Aziza Princess family of horses, it is in fact, this mare Shahd, who is the maternal great-grand dam of Aziza Samira, the dam of Aziza Princess. It is only through the study of these key horses and for their significance within the greater community of straight Egyptian breeding, that one can better understand their critical importance within the Rancho Bulakenyo program, on their own and blended together with the already-established lines of horses like RDM Maar Hala.  The fact that the Inshass mares are  a rich source of Ibn Rabdan blood through the use of Hamdan, Gassir and El Moez, offers common ground with the Rancho Bulakenyo horses who also carry a concentration of Ibn Rabdan blood, particularly through the combination of the full brother and sister: *Fadl and *Maaroufa, both of whom are sired by Ibn Rabdan and out of Mahroussa.  

Impressed by the quality of the offspring that her daughter, BintAzizaPrincess (whom Jody had purchased from the Raisners) was already producing for him, Jody was also able to lease Aziza Princess in her later years, but he was never able to produce a foal from her.  It was then that Jody sought Aziza Princess’ other daughters, namely the mare Kai-Ann by *Rofann (*Soufian x Bint Romanaa). Kai-Ann when bred to El Halimaar, produced Romanaa Maara MH for Rancho Bulakenyo, before she was sold to Saudi Arabia.  Romanaa Maara MH, when bred to *Hadban Al Shaqab produced Binte Romanaa MH, the dam of Amira Kahila MH, who is now part of Jamie Zissis’ breeding program at Rosehaven Arabian Farm.  The other Aziza Princess daughter who Jody added to the program was BintAzizaPrincess’ full sister, AZ Angelique, whom he bred to the El Halimaar son, Jabbaar El Halimaar MH and produced the mare, Azali Princess MH, who was owned by Rosehaven Ranch LLP.

Anchor Hill Hamla

In the late forties, the American breeder, Daniel Gainey, impressed with Henry Babson's Egyptian horses, wanted to incorporate Egyptian lines into his program and so, he  purchased the Egyptian mare *Mamdouha, who was in foal to the stallion Enzahi. The mare *Gamila was the foal that was born and at twelve years old, *Gamila was sold to the Atkinson’s of Anchor Hill Ranch. Bred to Anchor Hill’s straight Babson Egyptian stallion, Hadbah, she produced the extraordinary foundation mare, Anchor Hill Hamla. She was a lovely, old-world type of mare, curvey, substantially built with a strong top line, wide chest and big hips.  She was not exotic or extreme in her look but she possessed chiseled features and a dry, refined face. However, it was through her progeny, that Anchor Hill Hamla would prove to be most influential, as compared to her full sisters: Anchor Hill Bint Gamila, Anchor Hill Hamila and Anchor Hill Hadga. Subsequently owned by Glorieta Ranch and bred to the newer Egyptian blood like *Talal, Ansata Abu Nazeer and *Ansata Ibn Halima, as well as the older Egyptian horses, like the stallion, Char Echo.